What's happening
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Constellation Energy a waiver on June 2, 2026, authorizing the transfer of grid interconnection rights from the Eddystone natural gas plant to the Crane Clean Energy Center, the facility formerly known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, in Pennsylvania. The decision clears a critical regulatory pathway for Constellation's planned 2027 restart of the nuclear plant, which had been complicated by objections from the PJM Interconnection market monitor. Constellation stated that the FERC decision puts the company back on track for its 2027 restart goal.
The restart is structured around a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft, under which the Crane Clean Energy Center is expected to supply 835 megawatts of carbon-free nuclear generation into the PJM wholesale electricity market — capacity earmarked specifically to meet the power demands of Microsoft's data center operations. The waiver enabling the interconnection rights transfer was a prerequisite for maintaining the project's timeline, making the FERC ruling a pivotal operational milestone for Constellation.
Why it matters for markets
Constellation Energy carries a market capitalization of approximately $97.91 billion and reported revenue of $29.87 billion, positioning the Crane Clean Energy Center restart as a material long-term revenue event. The 20-year duration of the Microsoft PPA provides an extended, contracted revenue stream tied to 835 MW of generation capacity — a volume that represents a significant baseload commitment in the PJM market, which spans a large portion of the eastern United States. CEG shares closed up 2.62% on June 2, 2026, the day FERC issued its ruling.
The transaction underscores the growing intersection of nuclear power and hyperscale data center infrastructure. AI-driven electricity demand has intensified the search for large-scale, around-the-clock carbon-free generation, and nuclear plants — capable of providing firm baseload power independent of weather conditions — have emerged as a preferred solution for technology companies with both capacity and sustainability commitments. The Crane Clean Energy Center deal with Microsoft represents one of the most concrete examples of this dynamic being formalized through long-term contractual arrangements.
The FERC waiver also carries broader regulatory significance. The PJM market monitor had raised objections to the interconnection rights transfer, and FERC's decision to grant the waiver over those objections signals a regulatory posture that prioritizes enabling new clean energy supply in a grid region facing rising demand. For Constellation, whose business is centered on operating the largest nuclear fleet in the United States, the ruling reinforces the commercial viability of its strategy to reposition legacy nuclear assets as dedicated power suppliers for the data center sector.
Sectors and assets to watch
Constellation Energy (CEG) is the primary ticker directly affected by this development. As the operator of the Crane Clean Energy Center and counterparty to the Microsoft PPA, the company's near-term execution risk is now reduced by the removal of the FERC interconnection hurdle. With a P/E ratio of 23.7 and a 52-week range of $243.30 to $412.70, the stock's valuation reflects both the scale of Constellation's nuclear fleet and investor attention to its data center power contracting strategy. The company employs 15,291 people and generates electricity primarily from its nuclear portfolio, supplemented by natural gas, hydro, and renewables.
Microsoft (MSFT), as the offtaker under the 20-year PPA, is a tangential but directly named party in this transaction. The agreement reflects Microsoft's broader effort to secure dedicated carbon-free power for its data center infrastructure within the PJM footprint. More broadly, utilities and independent power producers with nuclear or other firm-capacity generation assets operating in PJM — as well as companies developing data center campuses in the region — represent sectors where the regulatory and commercial precedent set by this FERC ruling may have relevance.
What to watch next
Key developments to monitor include Constellation's progress toward the 2027 restart timeline for the Crane Clean Energy Center, including any further regulatory filings, construction or refurbishment milestones, and PJM interconnection queue updates. The company's own characterization of the FERC waiver as putting it "back on track" implies prior schedule pressure, so any subsequent disclosures regarding project costs, outage durations, or NRC licensing requirements will be material. Additionally, whether other nuclear operators pursue similar interconnection rights transfer strategies — and how FERC and PJM respond — will indicate whether this ruling establishes a replicable framework for nuclear-to-data-center power contracting across the broader grid.